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Toni Nadal Rufused Money Offered By Rafael Nadal As He…
Toni Nadal Rufused Money Offered By Rafael Nadal As He…
For almost three decades he has been Rafa Nadal ‘s shadow man . He made him the great tennis player he is today. (Although I’m sure if he reads it, he’ll shake his head.)
Toni Nadal has tennis in his head. And the sacrifice in the veins. The man who says that ” losing is not not getting it, it’s not trying “, discovered one day that his three-year-old nephew had an aptitude for tennis. He knew it when he threw the ball to him and Rafa went to get it . Although perhaps he already knew it long before.
Primer día de entrenamiento en #Cincinnati… Algo tormentoso! First day practice in #Cincinnati… Somewhat stormy! pic.twitter.com/RR8qD9H345
ARTICLE CONTINUE AFTER THE ADVERTISEMENT..... SCROLL DOWN— Toni Nadal (@ToniNadal4) August 13, 2013
Toni Nadal Rufused Money Offered By Rafael Nadal As He…
And that was howTony Nadalhe became Rafa ‘s coach for twenty-seven years . Raphael, as he calls him. As Toni Nadal has told Adolfo Arjona , the way he related to Rafa was different from the one he maintained throughout his career with other young promises. And it is that Rafa is his nephew, for better and for worse . For the 22 Grand Slam wins and for the continual pressure to be the best .
Toni Nadal: “Success belongs only to Rafa”
Toni Nadal acknowledges that being Rafa , the victories tasted different. And also the defeats : “ He was much more eager for things to go well for Rafa, and sometimes that leads to tightening the rope more than necessary ”.
And although Toni is the brother of Sebastián (Rafa’s father) , while he trained Rafa he was above all Rafa’s trainer . That is something that the family always respected: “On a sporting level, there were never any debates about Rafa’s training. When he was a child, I decided it. As he grew older, it was Rafa himself who made the decisions.”
For Toni Nadal, success is always Rafa’s . He reiterates it over and over again in this interview on ” La Noche de Adolfo Arjona”. He is clear about it . “The player is what makes the coach good. The percentage of success is almost exclusive to him. What I did was easy, the hard part was doing it. And that was what Rafa did.”
And he acknowledges: “ It is true that he forced Rafa to reach the limit. But if he hadn’t wanted to do it, it would have been impossible to succeed. Success is yours .” This is how resounding Toni is shown.
The humility of Rafa Nadal
Rafa’s training went beyond technique and physicality. Especially when he was a child. “I never thought that someone who achieves great success for something as simple as passing a ball over a net, was someone special . ” And that was transmitted to Rafa. Every day. In every workout. In every tournament.
Toni Nadal Rufused Money Offered By Rafael Nadal As He…
Of course, Rafa Nadal has always been an example of humility . On and off the track. In 2018, Mallorca suffered from heavy flooding . Rafa helped to remove the mud and clean up in Sant Llorenç des Cardessar. Like one more. “It was the town of his mother. It is very close to ours. It is normal that he was worried, and wanted to get involved, the same thing that a lot of people did ”.
According to the ATP , Nadal has won around 102 million euros on the courts . Is this profit directly proportional to what his coach has earned from him? “What I earned was not directly proportional to his successes . That’s how I decided because it was the best way to help Rafa. I decided not to charge Rafa. I have not won by training Rafa directly.” And he acknowledges that his brother was always responsible for compensating for the great job he did with the tennis player.
The good bye
And the day came. Toni stopped training Rafa. It was February 11, 2017 . The news travelled all round the world. “ I understood that my contribution was no longer necessary. And I decided to go. I saw that Carlos Moyá and his team were doing very well, and I assumed that the best thing was to retire .” When Arjona asks him about his relationship with Rafa today, he only has one word: “ Impeccable ”.
READ MORE: Carlos Alcaraz, Danil Medvedev And Novak Djokovic Learn Astana Fate As They…
Respect. civics. Effort. And commitment . Toni Nadal does not conceive of another way of understanding life. He instilled it in the tennis player for years. Today he instills it in his three children. And to the young promises of the Rafa Nadal Academy , of which he is a director: “ I have always sought professional success through personal development. I understood that it was the best way to achieve success .”
And that’s how Rafa Nadal became the great star he is today . Without Toni Nadal it would not have been possible. He was his trainer. His right hand. His shadow on the track. She breathed him in when he couldn’t take it anymore. His hand on her shoulder. It was everything since Rafa was four years old and the racket was bigger than him.
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A former Ferrari engineer has criticised the decision to bring in Lewis Hamilton and thinks the Brit’s presence will mean “a lot of potential for drama”.
At the age of 40, seven-time Formula 1 champion Hamilton will form a formidable driver partnership with Charles Leclerc. His big switch comes at the expense of Carlos Sainz, who has performed well for the Italian squad but who was axed so they had room for their blockbuster new signing.
But not everyone of a Ferrari persuasion is convinced that it will go well. Ernest Knoors, who spent many years as an engineer at Maranello, specialising in power units, worries that Hamilton’s presence could do more harm than good for a team that is finding its groove under Frederic Vasseur.
“A big name like Hamilton also brings a lot of politics and if politics within Ferrari are not managed well, then there is a lot of potential for drama,” he told Formule1.nl. “Hamilton has the tendency that if things do not work out, he turns his whole car upside down and starts experimenting.
“Ferrari believes very much in the big personalities and will follow him. But Hamilton is just someone you have to guide a little bit and not give the freedom to rebuild the whole car, because then it will go completely wrong. So I do not know if it is such a smart move, but of course it is nice for the sport.”
News of Hamilton’s planned move broke on February 1, coinciding with football’s Transfer Deadline Day. That the back pages of many newspapers were dominated by the decision of Hamilton to swap Mercedes for Ferrari was testament to the magnitude of the announcement.
Sainz was not surprised as he had been informed by his team of the plan ahead of it being made public. But the Spaniard responded well with two victories to date this season and five further appearances on the podium, on the way to what looks likely to be a fifth-placed finish in the championship – two spots and 54 points ahead of Hamilton.
Sainz has signed for Williams next year and, after several years of running at the front of the grid, will focus on his new challenge of helping restore one of the grid’s most historic teams to its former glory. But Knoors believes he should have been kept on by Ferrari instead.
The Dutchman added: “I see Lewis Hamilton’s arrival at Ferrari more as a PR move. With all due respect, Hamilton is not going to take that Ferrari from P6 to P1. He will get the most out of it, but what Ferrari has to do is make that car faster. And if you make that car faster, you can easily drive at the front with the current line-up.
“Besides, as a team you have to look further on the horizon. If Hamilton becomes champion in the coming years, he and Ferrari will become immortal. But if you want to build a team with talent for the next five years, are you going to build on Hamilton? No, because he will really be finished after two or three years. That is why I would have kept the very strong line-up that Ferrari has now.”
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Chase Elliott had a front-row seat for one of NASCAR’s most bizarre moments of the 2024 Cup Series season. At the start of Stage 2, the pace car dove onto pit road in front of Elliott; however, it was a tad too late. The pace car made contact with the sand barrels at the entry of pit road and caused a red flag for cleanup.
Initially, there was some speculation on the NBC Sports broadcast, even from the No. 9 team, that Elliott made contact with the pace car. Fortunately, the pace car didn’t slide across the No. 9 car’s nose, but it undoubtedly provided one of NASCAR’s craziest red flag moments in recent memory.
Below, you can listen to Elliott and the No. 9 team react to the pace car crashing into the sand barrels on pit road at Phoenix during Championship Weekend!
Reflecting on the recent retirement of 2017 NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr., Earnhardt didn’t mince words about the toll NASCAR takes on its drivers. Speaking candidly, the two-time Daytona 500 winner admitted that the pressure to perform every week left him feeling miserable for most of his racing career—a sentiment he believes is shared by many of his peers.
“Right or wrong, racing made me a miserable person 90% of the time,” Earnhardt confessed. “And him too. I mean, ask Kyle Busch, ask anybody—unless you’re winning, you’re not happy.”
For these elite drivers, the sport is a relentless grind. A podium finish might bring temporary relief, but anything short of victory is often a source of frustration. The immense effort poured into preparation and execution rarely feels like it pays off unless the checkered flag is theirs.
Earnhardt highlighted the mental toll of falling short, explaining how the relentless focus on winning can overshadow the joy of simply competing. Even a solid performance feels hollow compared to the euphoria of a win.
“Unless you’re winning, you’re not happy at all,” he said. “You’re okay with a good run, but for the most part, all the effort it takes just to run good—it doesn’t weigh out.”
For drivers, the stakes are sky-high every week. Sponsors, fans, and teams demand nothing less than excellence, leaving little room for error or personal satisfaction in anything less than a dominant performance.
Earnhardt also shared insights into his friendship with Martin Truex Jr., who recently announced his retirement. While the two often spend time hunting together during NASCAR’s off-season, Earnhardt noted that the stress of racing even creeps into their leisure activities.
“When I’m with him during hunting season, it’s always in the back of his mind,” Earnhardt said. “It’s that stressful part of the year when he’s as miserable as he’s going to be.”
Now, with Truex stepping away from the track, Earnhardt looks forward to seeing a lighter, happier version of his long-time friend. Without the weight of weekly competition hanging over him, Truex might finally be able to relax and enjoy the outdoor lifestyle he cherishes.
“It’ll be fun to see him loosen up,” Earnhardt added.
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